The Films of Fourth Edition

24/09/09 - After three editions of extraordinary success with the public (more than one and a half million spectators between 2006 and 2008), the International Rome Film Festival returns from October 15th to October 23rd 2009 with films, retrospectives, encounters, exhibitions, concerts and the attendance of great national and international stars.

At the root of the fourth edition there will be again the combination of popular appeal and quality cultural programming. It's a recipe for success; remembering that at the same events were film aficionados but also those who had never participated in a festival.

The entire city of Rome serves as a spectacular film set backdrop for the event. The pulsating heart of the Festival will be the Auditorium Parco della Musica - designed by Renzo Piano - and the neighboring Cinema Village.

The fourth edition of the International Rome Film Festival is produced by the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, comes under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic. The event is promoted by Fondazione Musica per Roma, Rome City Council, Rome Chamber of Commerce, the Lazio Region, the Province of Rome. The Main Partner is BNL - Gruppo BNP Paribas. The Institutional Partners are Aams - Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato, Ministry of National Heritage and Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Economic Development, Italian Trade Commission, with the support of the EU's Media Programme and the collaboration of the Centro Sperimantale di Cinematografia - Cineteca Nazionale. The Official Sponsors are Caffè Hag, Levi's, and for the fourth year, Il Gioco del Lotto and Mini who with their priceless support help the Festival grow and develop. This year Alitalia will be the Offical Carrier. And thanks to Lottomatica and IKEA for the Salacinema LOTTO and the Salacinema IKEA. Together these venues provide additional seating for more than 1500 spectators.

Gian Luigi Rondi is the President of the Fondazione Cinema per Roma, Francesca Via is the Director General. Piera Detassis is the Artistic Director of the International Rome Film Festival.
Mario Sesti and Gianluca Giannelli curated respectively, the sections Extra and Alice nella Città. Focus was curated by Gaia Morrione. Roberto Cicuttodirects The Business Street and New Cinema Network.

There are fourteen films in competition in the Official Selection section, of which three are Italian: Alza la Testa by Alessandro Angelini, withSergio Castellitto, Anita Kravos and Giorgio Colangeli, L'Uomo che Verrà by Giorgio DirittiwithClaudio Casado, Alba Rohrwacher, Maya Sansa and Viola di Mare with Valeria Solarino and Isabella Ragonese. But there will also be space for Jason Reitman - who returns to Rome after the success of Junowith a new film Up In The Air, staring George ClooneyandVera Farmiga - and Danis Tanovícwith his filmTriage with Colin Farrelland Paz Vega. Also, Helen Mirren, great protagonist of the film The Last Station byMichael Hoffman.

The films in competition in the Official Selection section will be judged by an international jury composed of seven artists from the worlds of film and of art. Milos Forman - the multi-awarding winning Czech director of masterpieces such asOne Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Hair, Ragtime, Amadeus and The People Vs. Larry Flint - will be the president, serving side by side with Assia Djebar,Gabriele Muccino, Gae Aulenti, Jean-Loup Dabadie, Pavel Lungin andSenta Berger. The Festival invites all festivalgoers to participate in the selection of The Golden Marc'Aurelio Audience Award for Best Film - BNL. Every ticket holder, upon entering the theatre, will receive a card "scratch and vote" for the film being screened, with which they can express their views. Films in the running for the Audience Award are the films in competition in the Official Selection section.

The film Out of Competition/Anteprima include Julie & Julia by Nora Ephron with Meryl Streep, Amy Adams andStanley Tucci, the latest film from theCoen brothers, A Serious Man, Le concert by Radu Mihaileanu, whileJames Ivory will bring to Rome The City Of Your Final Destination with Anthony Hopkins,Laura Linney, Charlotte Ginsburg and Alexandra Maria Lara. Two Italian filmsOggi Sposi by Luca LuciniandChristine Cristina a film by Stefania Sandrelli will be screening as well.

The great story of love between Bella and Edward, based on the book, Twilight, by Stephanie Mayer, returns the protagonists to the Festival. Based on the success from last year, they will present in a premiere, a few sequences of the heavily anticipated second sequel, The Twilight Saga:New Moon, directed by Chris Weitz. The images will be accompanied by readings from the book.
Hachiko: A Dog's Story, with Richard Gerenarrating another extraordinary form of love, that between a dog and its owner.

Many nourishing programs are also planned for the Special Events. We highlight two dates: The homage from the Festival to Heath Ledger with a screening of his last film directed byTerry Gilliam, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, among the cast are Heath Ledger,Johnny Deep, Colin Farrell, Jude Law. Also there will beHomage to Rome by Franco Zeffirelli, with the extraordinary participation of Monica BellucciandAndrea Bocelli.

The Festival will remember the career of Luciano Salce through the documentary, L'uomo dalla Bocca Storta, directed by Emanuele SalceandAndrea Pergolari and pay homage toLucinao Emmer with a screening of Le Ragazze di Piazza di Spagna.

Also on the second day of the event (October 16th) there will be a dedication to Tullio Kezich the writer, playwright and film critic for Corriere della Sera, who died on August 17th.

The Extra section serves in its programming, one of the strongest slates in the Festival, encounters with the public who will see encounters between major film personalities such asMeryl Streep, Richard Gere,Paul Coelho, Asia Argento and, as part of the DUET series, Gabriele Muccino andGiuseppe Tornatore.

The Extra section is fortunate to bring Meryl Streep and Richard Gere together for the event "a journey through American cinema" in collaboration with Universal Studios.
Meryl Streep will receive the Golden Marc'Aurelio Acting Award, which has been awarded in past editions to prominent and talented actors Sean Connery, Sophia Loren and Al Pacino.
The author Paulo Coelho will be in Rome to present, in a world premiere, his first feature film, Paulo Coelho's The Experimental Which.
Also in the Extra section there will be twelve documentaries in competition for the Silver Marc'Aurelio prize awarded by jury president Folco Quilici and directorsFrancesca Conversano, Salvo Cuccia, Giovanna Gagliardo, Gianfarco Pannone, Franco Piavoli and Sherin Salvetti. Meryl Streep and Luigi Zampawill be honored with two very interesting retrospectives. The screening of the film La Romana will be at the Auditorium Parco della Musica di Roma with participation from the star of the film, Gina Lollobrigida.

Alice nella Città, the children's section of the Festival, features twelve films in competition, including Nat e Il Segreto di Elenora which signals the return to animation ofLanterna Magica (La Freccia Azzurra, La Gabbianella e il Gatto) and Marpiccolo which hails the return ofAlessandro di Robilant behind the camera. The jury is composed of sixty-five children between the ages of 8 and 17, selected from schools across the country thanks to the initiative "Waiting for the Festival". They will award two prizes, "Marc'Aurelio, Alice nella città". Outside of competition in the Alice nella città section, in collaboration with the Extra section, will be an outstanding documentary by Edoardo Winspeare, Sotto il Celio Azzurro.

The new edition of Focus is dedicated to the theme of the global environment, in particular, climate change. The program previews twelve events exploring these themes, including a multi-media exhibit, Cape Farewell: Art & Climate Change, the presence of Miranda Richardson who will discuss the film Turtle: The Incredible Journey with the director Nick Stringer. And also, a special film event, with music and testimony in collaboration with FAO, "La Notte dei Pubblivori" present Eco-logic, an evening marathon of one hundred advertising/PSA spots from around the world dealing with environmental themes. This year Focus will curate a great inaugural event for the Festival, a show ending with the Plasticiens Volants,Felice Limonsani and with the participation ofDavid Riondino, will take place in the historic gardens of the French Academy, Villa Medici.

Moreover, the entire Festival is paying attention to the environment: there will be an effort to reduce the Festival's carbon footprint and to compensate by planting a new forest in Costa Rica and the replanting of an area of a reservoir in Rome.

Again this year, Via Veneto will be the seat of The Business Street (directed by Robert Cicutto), a place for film buyers and sellers to meet. From October 15th to October 19th there will be screenings, meetings between producers, buyers, and sellers, conferences and workshops on important topics regarding the economic issues and other issues of the national and international film industry. La Casa del Cinema will be the headquarters for the New Cinema Network, the programme of the Festival dedicated to supporting the production of independent film.

Among the very important topics to be discussed in three workshops from October 20nd to October 22nd are, The Promotion of Italian Film, The Revolution of Digital Film in Theatres and Cinema of the Italian Regions. There will also be two special sessions dedicated to Tax shelters, Tax credit and discussions relevant to the reorganization of the FUS (Fondo Unico dello Spettacolo).

The Festival is not only film, but also events highlighting the legacies from the worlds of art and culture in general.
After eighty years of his birth and twenty years since his death, the Festival will remember Sergio Leone, among one of the artists most identified with film in Italy and worldwide, through a exhibition-event, Sergio Leone, a fresh vision, which will be inaugurated by Maestro Ennio Morricone.

Then there will be, in a worldwide premiere, the film-dossier dedicated to the life of artist Antonio Ligabueand an important exhibition, at the Archeological Museum Auditorium Parco della Muisca with approximately eighty pieces of work curated from noted museums and private collections titled, "Luci del Cinema su Antonio Ligabue".
For the first time in Italy the show Cape Farewell: Art & Climate Change will be presented. There will be photography, sculptures and installations fed by solar energy or dug into ice, resulting from the experience of a group of artists who visited Greenland with scientists and researchers.
On October 13th, Avion Travel together with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, will perform at a pre-inaugural concert, at the Auditorium Conciliazione. The group will play, thirty years after his death, the music of Nino Rota, showcasing significant music from the Maestro's repertoire.

The Festival's engagement with social issues continues this year with the collaboration and initiatives of Telethon, FAO, Unicef, Greenpeace, Legambiente, A.N.G.E.L.S. and the participation of the Assessorato ai Servizi Sociali del Comune di Roma which supplied audiovisual aids.